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:: Title ::

Edward VIII

:: Genre ::

calypso

:: Performers & Instruments ::

Anderson, Cecil (Duke of Iron) [vocal]

Clark, Gerald

Clark, Hi [bass (double)]

DeLeon [drum (drums)]

Felix, Gregory [clarinet]

Grant, Rupert (Lord Invader) [vocal]

MacDonald, Patrick (Macbeth the Great) [vocal]

Morris, Albert [piano]

Pacheco, Victor [fiddle]

Simeon [drum (drums)]

Unidentified [chac chac]

Unidentified men [vocal]

:: Group Name ::

Gerald Clark and His Invaders

:: Setting ::

Calypso At Midnight concert, Town Hall

:: Location ::

Manhattan, New York City (New York), New York (United States)

:: Language ::

English

:: Culture ::

Trinidad, Afro-Trinidadian, Creole-Trinidadian

:: Session ::

Calypso At Midnight 12/46

:: Date ::

12/21/1946

:: Reference Information ::

TD227.0, Track 31 (00:04:21)

:: Original Format ::

Reel to Reel

:: Session Notes ::

1 - "This concert is a fascinating document of an American presentation of Trinidadian calypso at a time when interest in the genre was spreading from New York City into the mainstream of popular music in the United States" (Donald R. Hill and John H. Cowley, Calypso At Midnight, Rounder 1840). [Source: Editor]

:: Recording Notes ::

0 - Notes from Rounder Records release "Calypso At Midnight" read: "The Trinidad Guardian proudly printed what it claimed to be the 'First Picture of King Edward VIII' on its front page on February 4, 1936. As the Prince of Wales, Edward had visited the island in 1920. He was a popular figurehead. By the end of 1936, news of the monarch was of a completely different nature. Successively, the Guardian's front page speculated on abdication during the second week of December, culminating in the headline 'King Renounces His Throne for Love' which was splashed across the broadsheet on the morning of December 11 (he had abdicated the day previous). This is an extremely important song in the rising popularity of calypso in the United States; it never was released in Britain. An instant hit following Lord Caresser's recording on February 16, 1937 (Decca 17298) the lyric was used as the centerpiece for a calypso drama at the Village Vanguard, New York that focused on the abdication of Edward VIII. No event startled Depression era Anglophones more than this abdication, and no song more captured the moment than this calypso. Melodically, the piece is taken from an old-time kalenda (or stick fighting) chant. Such compositions were used as the basis for layways (from the French, la voix, voice), or calypso road marches during the twentieth century." [Source: Donald R. Hill and John H. Cowley]